Belazu’s story started in 1991 when founder George visited his mother in Provence and fell in love with some exceptional olives from the market. He brought 10 buckets of olives back to the UK and began selling them to small delis, under the name ‘Fresh Olive’. Within a year, George was supplying restaurants such as Le Manor aux Quat’ Saisons. From 1994 and 1997, George and his mum travelled across Europe sourcing some of the best ingredients they could find, including olive oils, vinegars and pestos. In 1998, they opened a stall at Borough Market where they continued trading until 2016. ‘Belazu’ was created in 2000 and immediately created ranges for Waitrose and Sainsbury’s. By 2003, the company had set up The Belazu Foundation, which, to this day, sponsors schools in Morocco, where much of their produce is sourced, as well as other projects closer to home. In 2012, Belazu were awarded their first Great taste Award and since then they have gained 129 more!
In 2014, Belazu launched an ambitious sustainability program in which they vowed to have zero landfill waste. This has been consistently achieved since then, with all of their waste either recycled or turned into energy. In 2021, Belazu joined the B Corp community to meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance.
